Daniel caldwell millett



(No Model.)

D. C. MILLETT.

WALL PROTECTOR.

o T0 @ZZ whom, t may concern:

PATENT @Erica DANIEL CALDVELL MILLETI,

'0E MILWAUKEE, wisconsin.

WALL-PROTECTOR.

SPIFACIZ'IISIICJA'ION forming partI of'Letters Patent No: 292,247', dated January 22, 1884.

l Application filed october 1, issu. (No nieder) -Be it known that i I, DANIEL CALDWELL lWIILLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wall- Protectors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchl as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

It is well known that in cleaning-the woodwork of door-casings, base-boards, cornices, &c., it is difficult to avoid injury to the adjoining wall by splashingsof water more or less dirty. Similar difficulties are encountered in painting or varnishing surfaces adj acent to others not desired to be touched.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap and efficient means of protecting awall or other surface or any part of the same, while adjoining surfaces are undergoing the operations of cleaning, painting, or varnishing. I attain this obj ect by means of the implement v illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in-

.which- Y Figure lis a perspective view of the whole apparatus. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same,

and Fig. 3 is a top view of one end, showing certain details of my invention.

A is a thin strip of water-proof material, preferably sheet-tin, having upon three sides, as showmthe troughs or gutters B G D, in continuity each with the other. The gutters B and D are made with a slight inclination or fall away from the edge E, as shown in detail in Fig. 3, in order that drippings from the surface A, when the same is held vertically, will be accumulated in thelower corners of the troughs BD. Thetrough C, being bounded at each end by troughs B and D, requires no fall. The edge E of the surface A is made beveled or sharp, asfshown, for the purpose fully described below. It will be noticed, also', that the edges F F of troughsB and D are curved away from the edge E, so as to lie without a perpendicular plane intersecting surface A at edge E. The under sides of the various gutters are preferably made rounded and smooth, in order that they may offer no obstruction to the movement of the entire apparatusgover a ,wall or other surface. A 55 It isV obvious that the entire mechanism so far described may be made in one piece, eitherA stamped from sheet metal without seam at the junctions'of gutters B C D, or cut in the ordinary manner, and such junctions closed with 6o solder. y

For convenience of manipulatiom'IafX a handle, G, oblique to thesurface A, so that the hand of a person grasping the apparatus when in use will not interfere with the move- 6 5 mentsof a cloth or brush moved along and partly upon edge E. Y

In practice I usually make the implement of sheet-tin about twelve inches long and four inches wide in the clear; but itfis obvious that 7o any other material and any other dimensions affording similar conveniences will answer as well.

In operating my invention, I grasp thehandle G with one hand and place the apparatus 7 5 fiat upon the surface to be protected, withthe sharp edge E abutting upon the surface to be cleaned, painted, or varnished.' The edge E,

being sharp, will leave the entire surface to be operated upon uncovered to the brush or cloth 8o even when that surface is at right or other angles to the protected wall, or when it has a rounded or overhanging projection. .While the apparatus is so held, a wet clothorbrush may be freely passed 'up and down the sur- 85 face to be affected, and along edge E, the strokes being mechanically limited by the 'gutters B D, and all drippings or splashings caught in the same, or in gutter C if the apparatus be held horizontally, The edges of the gutters B and 9o D, being inclined away from the edge E, will permit a free up-and-down movement ofthe ap paratus without obstruction by slight inequalities in a surface at right or slightly-acute angles to surface A, so that fresh surfaces may be 95 successively reached, and will also permit the apparatus to lie close to or under an overhanging projection. The handle G, being inclined away from edge E, leaves an abundance of room for the operation of a cloth or brush roo without increasing'thebulk of theapparatus.

I am aware that it is not novel to cover one surface while operating upon another adjoining, nor do I claim as m-y invention such a process. I desire to limit myself to the apparatus shown, and to its legitimate modifications. Among such I might include the omission of'fthe gutters B C D, where it is desired to use the apparatus in dry polishing by a friction injurious to adjacent surfaces.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I. A wall-protector havin g a handle for convenience of manipulation, and provided with drip cups or troughs upon three sides of its surface, as and for the purpose described.

2. A wall-protector having a handle oblique' to itssurfaee, and provided with drip cups or troughsv arranged, as shown, to catch and retaiuthe drippings from the fiat surface.

3. A wall-protector having a suitable han dIe, sharpened edge E, and rounded under edges' at the other three sides, as and for the purpose shown,

4. The combination, in a all-protector, of

surface A, sharpened edge E, handle G, 0blique to surface A, and drip cups or troughs B C D.

5. The combination, in a \\'a1l-protcctor, of surface A, sharpened edge E, and the edges F F of troughs B D, inclined back from the edge E, so that the wall-protector may be operated close to or under the edges of moldings, 85e.

6. The combination, in a wall-protector, of surface A, with opposite curved ends inclined away from each other and toward troughv C, so as to make inclined edges F F and inclined gutters or drip-cups B and D, as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL CALDWELL lIIIiIi VIVI.

IVitiiesses:

GEO. H. Norris, WM. R. KING. 

